The Aftermath
by Tvist
Summary: Aftermath of s7e10 Mercy. Will just watched and marveled in the fact that despite getting shot, bleeding profusely Jay was still there with them. Another aftermath story.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: thanks for the feedback on my other stories. Hope you'll like this one as well. I feel like I'm repeating myself:-)_

Jay was out of surgery; Marcel had just left after giving Will an update on his condition. Lights in Jay's room were dimmed, his brother sleeping, the only thing disturbing the image was the medical equipment surrounding him and the tube still helping him breathe. A nurse was there, watching over Jay, as they were going to let him wake up and extubate him as soon as possible, the sedation had been lifted.

Will walked closer to the bed, leaning against the rail he got a better look at his brother. Bruises stark against pale skin. Jay was still low on blood, he would be for a while, even if they'd transfused him up during surgery. But his skin was surprisingly warm against his touch when he picked up Jay's hand to hold in his.

The room was as silent as it could get, the ventilator making its whooshing sound with each breath, the telemetry beeping with Jay's heart beats. Will just watched and marveled in the fact that despite getting shot, bleeding profusely Jay was still there with them. He hadn't informed Jay's unit yet, he needed this quiet moment alone with Jay, undisturbed to understand that he was alive.

"He's coming around," Will said as he could feel Jay's hand move in his.

"I'll get dr. Marcel back in here," she said moving to the open door, having someone page Marcel for her.

Jay's eyes were roaming under closed lids, he was growing restless. Will hoped they'd be able to pull the tube before he came to completely, knowing how uncomfortable waking up with a tracheal tube could be.

"You're okay, Jay, just relax." Will put his other hand on Jay's chest to soothe him as he triggered the vent with each breath. Jay was breathing on his own but starting to hyperventilate as he became more aware.

Marcel entered soon after, assessing the numbers on the vent and the monitor beside the bed.

"He's ready, lets extubate," Marcel smiled at Will as his gloved hands got to work.

Will was glad Jay would be able to wake up without the tube, less stressful for his already stressed out body.

The nurse assisted Marcel and soon Jay was tube free, he only gagged a few times and glimpsed up at Marcel before he was out like a light, sleeping deeply, not noticing the oxygen mask placed over his nose and mouth to help him.

"He's doing great Will!" Marcel said, slapping Will's back as they both looked down at Jay's sleeping form.

"Yeah, he's okay," Will whispered, relieved and feeling the weight of hours of worry leave him. Blurry vision was what clued him in on the tears rolling down his cheeks. He wiped them away and pulled a chair close by so he could watch Jay sleep some more, before he had to update Hailey about Jay's condition.

CPD***CPD

Hailey followed Will along the corridors, anxious to see Jay for herself, not just imagine what he looked like from Will's professional descriptions.

She was exhausted but hearing about how Jay was doing good had infused her with new energy. She kept up with Will's long legs, and entered the ICU right on his heels, but she stopped just short of entering Jay's room as she found him with her eyes.

Will beckoned her inside. "Come in, he's still mostly sleeping, he got some pain meds about 20 minutes ago." Explaining why Jay was deeply asleep, resting with his back slightly raised.

Jay was pale, his eyelashes dark against his skin. He had a cannula delivering oxygen under his nose, mouth slightly open, he looked like he was drugged out, body completely lax.

"He looks drugged," Hailey said as she came closer to the bed, leaning in the bedrail studying Jay, relief flooding her body, after hours of tense waiting.

"Yeah, he's going to need pain management for a while, and we need to keep him down, or he'll probably make an escape attempt." Will smiled as he affectionately pushed his hand trough Jay's hair.

"I'll keep an eye on him," Hailey smiled back at Will, both knowing how much Jay hated hospitals and not to mention needles.

Will pulled up a chair for Hailey to sit in beside the bed. As he excused himself and left Hailey and Jay to themselves.

Hailey managed to slumber for a while, until she heard rustling of blankets. Opening her eyes she found Jay moving around on the bed, his hands pulling on the blanket, his head moving restlessly.

"Jay?" She got up to stand beside the bed, watching her partner as he was waking up.

He opened his eyes a grimace on his face as it looked like he was trying to get his bearings.

Hailey let him have some time to reorient himself as a nurse entered an alarm sounding as Jay's heart rate had speed up upon waking.

"Detective Halstead…Hi," she said as Jay looked up at her, "do you remember where you are?" It was obvious they'd had a similar conversation before as Jay nodded his head yes, not using his voice. "Good, Will had to go back to the ED. How's the pain?" She busied herself with raising the back of the bed a bit more so Jay could have a sip of water.

"I'm okay, just sore" Jay answered after having a sip of water, his voice gravelly and sore. "Good, let me know if you need anything okay, I'm right outside, just hit the call button." She smiled at Hailey as she left them alone.

"Hey, how you feel?" Hailey asked as Jay seemed to manage to stay awake.

"Like I was asleep for a year," Jay looked up at her, and she couldn't help telling him how he'd needed some rest.

When he asked her to help him get out of there, she knew he was back to himself. She refused of course, knowing he was trying to joke to cover up and divert attention from the gravity of what had happened.

She couldn't stop smiling at him, relieved he was still there, a close call, but he was going to be fine eventually.

Voight came by shortly after, and Hailey could tell but Jay's demeanor that he still felt guilty by how he pleaded for Voight to do something to help Angela. The woman who had tried to kill him. It dampened the mood, and when she caught a last glimpse of Jay as she left to follow Voight, he looked exhausted and miserable.

Hailey realized they still had some ways to go before Jay would be alright both physically and mentally.

_AN2: Anyone want to read more of Jay's recovery? I could do some more if there's interest. There is so much to explore that we'll never see on the show. _


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: Thanks for the feedback and comments. I really don't have time to write so it's very slow going. Anyway, here's more brofeels for you._

Will was finally done with his shift, going home he was anxious to get back to his brother, leaving him alone to fend for himself was something Will dreaded. Jay was still weak; he had looked drained that morning as Will left for work.

Deciding to stay with Jay had been Will's idea. His brother was just two days out of the hospital, he was still exhausted and not to mention sore. He moved like a glacier in the mornings before the pain meds kicked in and knocked him on his ass again.

Will tried to give Jay his space and not hover too much, but being a doctor makes you a control freak for a living, so it was hard.

He could tell Jay was growing restless. Even if he was exhausted and tired most of the time, there was something about Jay that worried Will. Concerned Jay would overdo it, put too much strain on his stitches, that something would rip, and he'd bleed out. Will knew that wasn't likely, but still he was anxious to get home, needing to see for himself that Jay was there, and as alright as he could be, at this stage of his recovery.

Will used his key to open the door to Jay's apartment, afraid to wake his brother in case he was taking a nap. Jay still needed a lot of rest, so he was taking naps on and off during the day.

The apartment was quiet, Will was pretty sure Jay was asleep somewhere, either in his bedroom or the couch. The TV was on, some hockey game on replay, the sound muted. Sure enough there was Jay, his feet up on the coffee table, sitting up, his head was back against the back, small snoring noises coming from him.

Will stayed quiet, taking a moment to look at Jay.

He was still pale, the slight stubble dark against his skin. Dark circles under his eyes. The tape and gauze visible above the neck of Jay's t-shirt reminded Will of how close Jay had come to losing his life just a week ago.

The wound and surgical incision was still covered with thick padded dressings, very visible still under his clothes. Jay had taken the sling off, and his left arm was resting on a pillow in his lap instead. Will knew Jay hated the restrictive feel of the sling around him. Making him feel almost claustrophobic at times, so he let him off the hook if he was not up and moving around too much.

Will picked up used dishes from the table, deciding to give Jay a few more moments of sleep before he woke him up to get him to eat something.

He made himself busy in the kitchen, looking through the fridge, in his thoughts thanking Hailey for her help taking care of Jay. She'd stopped by during the day while Will worked and had stocked the fridge with food for them. There was no beer, just milk, juice and water, Jay wasn't allowed alcohol yet, even if he tried to sway Will to let him have some beer to celebrate coming home the first night.

Will wasn't sure what made him walk out into the living room, but as he stood in the doorway, he heard small whimpers coming from Jay's direction. His brother was growing restless. Jay's head turned, his eyes till closed. Moving closer, Will could see Jay better, his eyes were still closed, lines of pain visible on his face. His breathing had changed, there was a hitch in his breath as if he was in distress.

"Jay, come on, wake up," Will decided to intervene, it was time to eat and get Jay to take his antibiotics anyway.

Jay's breathing changed; he was starting to wake up. His eyelids fluttered as he groaned, moving his shoulders, he was soon reminded of the gunshot wound.

"Ahhg," Jay exclaimed as his face scrunched up in pain, eyes clenched shut. His body froze as moving obviously hurt.

"Hey…" Will whispered, not wanting to startle Jay, "you okay?"

"Ugh, yeah, just hurts," in a moment between slumber and alert Jay admitted to the pain, he usually was one to swallow it down and push through.

"I know, just try to relax your shoulders and neck, tensing up only makes it hurt more." Will could see the pain had made Jay tense up, intensifying the ache.

He put a hand on Jay's neck as he tried to coax him to relax. "Hey, you need to breath Jay…Come on," Jay was holding his breath against the pain, but at his brother's words he let the air out of his lungs slowly.

Will could feel Jay finally let go, his hand still at the nape of his neck, rubbing the muscles there.

"Good, that's good Jay, you alright?"

"Yeah…I'm okay." Jay had probably slept for a while sitting up making everything feel stiff and sore.

"I'll get your meds, do want milk or Juice?" Will waited for an answer, Jay slow to respond.

"Water, just water…"

Will was having trouble getting Jay to eat and drink as the medication made him feel sick to his stomach most of the time. Who knew Jay had suck a sensitive system, not reacting well to Opiates, making him loopy and tired.

"How about we get your calory count up by some milk, it might calm you stomach a bit." Will tried his best to not treat Jay as a child but it was hard to not just take control and not let Jay have a say.

Will got the painkillers along with Jay's next dose of antibiotics noticing that Jay had skipped a dose of pain meds during the day. No wonder he was aching as he did just moments ago.

Filling a large glass of milk for his brother he counted to ten while he decided if he should confront Jay about his decision to skip doses already. He knew Jay was weary of the drugs but the pain would slow him down and certainly not help him recover any faster.

"Here, there's a pain meds as well," Will handed Jay the glass of milk and held out the pills gathered in his hand.

Neither said anything as Jay swallowed the pills and finished the glass of milk. Jay put his head slowly back against the headrest of the couch, eyes closed.

"It'll be about 20 minutes before they kick in," Jay was still taking measured breaths, still obviously hurting, but he didn't complain. It was hard to know how to handle Jay when he was like this. Always internalizing, not showing or telling Will what was going on.

Jay didn't answer, just kept still, Will figured he was waiting for the pain to fade so he could function again.

Will left Jay alone, leaving to start make some food for them both. He wasn't a great cook, but he did know what Jay liked to eat, so he got busy in the kitchen, needing some space as he felt anger bubble in his chest. Jay didn't deserve what had happened to him even if Will knew Jay probably blamed himself for everything.

The tomato sauce was boiling and the anger he'd felt had dissipated when he heard Jay move in the living room. He turned off the stove and hurried to see what Jay was doing.

"Hey? You okay?" he asked as he saw Jay move from sitting to standing, holding his left arm close to his body so it wouldn't move and aggravate the wound.

"Yeah…just…feel kind of sick," the color of Jay's skin was even whiter then before as he took a step away from the couch, as if he was going to walk to the bedroom.

"Whoa, Jay…" Will moved quickly as he could see Jay start to sway, "sit down Jay!"

Will grabbed Jay's good arm and put his other arm around Jay's back to steady him. He needed Jay to sit down, as he could see he was about to lose consciousness, if he didn't get him to lay flat soon.

Jay's eyes were vacant, and his body was growing limp, as Will maneuvered his brother down on the couch. "You with me Jay?"

"Huh?" Jay seemed out of it, allowing Will to help him down on his back, lifting his legs up on the couch so he was lying flat.

"Jay! Hey, come on, stay with me," Will put his hand on Jay's forehead feeling the dampness, the telltale sign of his brother's blood pressure tanking when he stood up.

"Ugh…feel sick," Jay moaned. Will made sure to make Jay turn over on his side in case he would throw up.

"I know, just take deep breaths, I'll pass."

It took a while, but Jay settled, his skin drying up, some color coming back to his face. After about twenty minutes Jay was fast asleep and Will knew it would be futile to get him to eat anything.

That evening Will had dinner while he watched Jay sleep, thankful his brother was still there, but knowing it was still early days in his recovery.

_AN2: so is there anything special people would like to see next? Let me know what you'd like, but while I'm pretty good with the medical stuff, I'm horrible with romance/relationship stuff. Whump/hurt/comfort/feels is what I enjoy to read and write._


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: thanks for the feedback on the last chapter. Here's more angst. _

Hailey kept her phone on vibration even if they were just about to raid a stash house. Will had messaged her earlier telling her Jay had a fever, and that he was bringing him to med so that he could be checked out.

Jay had been home for only a few days, still pretty sore and out of it, not really improving like they'd hope when they'd let him leave Med early.

She'd talked to Will the night before after Jay had complained about feeling sick and almost fainting as he'd stood up from the couch. Will hadn't really sounded worried, but there was something in his voice that told Hailey he was concerned as Jay wasn't doing as well as they'd expected.

Jay had been asleep in bed when Hailey visited him during her lunch break earlier in the day. She hadn't wanted to disturb him, so she's just looked in on him, made sure he was breathing, and that he had what he needed before she left him alone again.

Now she couldn't stop thinking about if there had been something she's overlooked. Something she should have noticed was wrong.

"Hailey! Hey, are you listening?" Hank Voight's gravelly voice cut through Hailey's thoughts making her look at up at her boss' worried expression.

"Sorry, yeah, I'm listening,"

"Something wrong? Do I need to bench you, I don't need someone getting hurt because you're distracted Hailey." Voight's expression was soft even if his words sounded harsh. But he was right, Hailey's thoughts were elsewhere.

Hailey pulled Hank away from the rest as she started to explain to her boss. Hank told her to leave and find her partner as soon as he heard Jay was back at Med.

She didn't know what to expect when she arrived at the ED, looking for Jay. Will hadn't been very specific in his message, just that Jay had a fever and that he'd brought him in. What she found was Will standing at the nurses' desk, talking to Choi.

"Hey, Hailey," Will had discovered her, "he's okay," he knew her worst fears, and that he'd scared her with his text.

"What happened?" Hailey asked as she gave Will a hug, he'd seen her cry, waiting for word on Jay, so she didn't really feel awkward hugging him.

"He was sleeping when I got home from work, and when I woke him up, he felt really warm." Will looked over at Ethan, "I managed to convince him to come with me, just so that Ethan could have a look at him, just to make me happy." Will smiled at her, pleased with himself.

Hailey felt herself start to calm down, if Will was this relaxed, she could too.

"What's wrong with him then, why does he have a fever" Hailey asked, as fever's usually meant infections and that was something Jay didn't need.

"We're just keeping him for observation at the moment, he has a low-grade fever, might just be the trauma from the gunshot wound and surgery. At least that's what we're hoping for right now." Will sounded hopeful.

"You managed to convince him to stay?" Hailey asked, knowing Jay's hatred of hospitals and needles.

"Well, he protested at first, but he was so tired that he fell asleep after we gave him a nudge with a small dose of morphine. We found him a quiet room he can spend the night in". Will pulled Hailey along, moving towards what she assumed was Jay's room in the Emergency department for the night.

The sight that greeted her felt like déjà vu. Jay was sleeping, an IV-line snaking under the blanket, monitor leads coming out of the top of the hospital gown, leading to the monitor beside the bed, displaying his vitals. Jay looked pale but the flush on his cheeks told her he was still feverish.

"Are you sure he's okay?" Hailey asked as they stood in the doorway looking in on Jay.

"I think so, but if I wasn't worried, I'd take him home, so…I hope this is nothing, but it might be something." Will put a comforting hand on Hailey's shoulder.

"Yeah, let's hope so. I'll stay with him; you should go home and get some sleep."

Hailey knew Will was working early the next day, and since Hank had let her leave, she guessed he'd be okay with her staying the night, taking care of her partner.

"Alright but call me if anything happens." Will turned and started walking away from her, "he was feeling queasy last night, so he hasn't really eaten anything in a while, probably the concussion, so get him to eat something if you can." He said as he turned around and waved goodbye.

"Sure," Hailey whispered, knowing Jay was pretty stubborn, and that she would have her work cut out for her getting him to eat something if he was feeling sick, and now running a fever.

Jay was floating. He knew he was at Med and that Will had dragged him there because of a fever he'd developed during the day. Jay had protested, he hated hospitals, sure he could go there and do his job when he had to, as a cop, but being a patient in one was something else entirely. Ethan had slipped Jay some morphine, as his head and chest had ached pretty bad and it was obvious that Jay would not be able to relax at all.

The floaty and faraway feeling was nice at first, but Jay didn't feel like he was in control of his environment when he was like this.

Opiates had never agreed with him, he'd reacted badly before and he was afraid of hallucinating. He'd had a really bad trip when the medic had given him the standard dose in the field once during his deployment in Afghanistan. Who knew he was so sensitive to drugs? Vivid nightmares he could handle most nights, hallucination was something he didn't want to experience ever again.

The floaty feeling was a sign of the drug still coursing around in his system, muddling his senses and thoughts. Jay tried moving to see if his body was still in his control. Everything felt heavy and his feet barely shifted under the blanket that felt too heavy to move.

"Jay? You awake?" he recognized the voice as Hailey's but that couldn't be right, it was Will who was with him when he was forced to sleep?

Jay felt his heart speed up, this was the drugs messing with him, thinking Hailey was there, was just wishful thinking, what was his brain going to come up with next?

"Jay, you're okay, open your eyes for a second, It's me, Hailey." Someone was holding his hand, the one not confined in the sling.

Opening his eyes Jay found Hailey there, a blurry figure, but he was sure it was Hailey, real or not. "You're…you're really here?"

"Yeah, I'm really here Jay. How do you feel?" She was smiling at him, standing beside his bed, leaning over the bedrail, he could swear her hand was holding his, but it could still be his brain playing tricks on him.

"Weird, everything's weird," Jay didn't know how to describe the unreal feeling he had, that this was just his imagination and soon he'd be seeing his nightmares played out in front of him with every detail he wanted to forget. He was starting to feel sick in anticipation of the horrors his brain was going to show him.

"Yeah? What's weird Jay?" Hailey was concerned. Jay seemed altered, maybe it was the concussion and fever making him confused.

"Sick, think I'm gonna puke," Jay was suddenly struggling to sit up.

The queasiness had turned into full blown nausea, he was going to throw up, no doubt.

Hailey hit the call button, alerting the nurses that Jay needed help. Helping Jay sit up it was just in time for him to throw up the meager contents of his stomach on his gown. He was dry heaving mostly as he hadn't really eaten much the last 24 hours when one of the nurses finally got there to help Hailey.

When the heaving was done, and more medication was pushed into his IV he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. Sleep and exhaustion claiming him. The last thing he saw was Hailey's concerned expression.

**Tbc, but don't know when. The latest ep gave me some inspiration though!**


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